Federal Policy
2020 Mom Sponsored Policy:
Maternal Mental Health Interagency Task Force Funded!
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Budget bill averting a government shut-down and funding a Maternal Mental Health Interagency Task Force. The Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency is tasked with convening a task force of various federal agencies including:
The Office of Women's Health,
The Surgeon General,
The Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal Child Health Bureau (HRSA), and the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and more.
The Task Force will detail the roles each organization can take to address maternal mental health in a report issued to Congress in June 2020. 2020 Mom will share the report with our network at that time.
This is Game Changing
We believe this is landmark policy, just like no one health care provider type has been accountable for screening, diagnosis and treatment, no single Federal agency has been responsible. This has caused women to fall through the cracks of our healthcare system and maternal mental health has been an issue that is hiding in the floor cracks. Now, agencies will receive direction from HHS that maternal mental health requires coordination and that it should be prioritized.
Over 50 federal and state organizations — signed on to our letter to Congress requesting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on activities addressing maternal mental health.
The letter specifically encouraged the Senate to join the House in requesting HHS to prepare a report on the role that each agency within HHS plays in addressing gaps in maternal mental health for new and expectant mothers.
21st Century Cures Act – a Victory for the Fight against Maternal Depression
In December of 2016, maternal mental health advocates celebrated the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act which included support for identification and treatment of maternal depression. The 21st Century Cures Act adopted language from Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act of 2015.
The Act is 996 pages long and contains many other mental health provisions in addition to addressing maternal depression. Highlights include measures to strengthen equal insurance coverage for mental and physical health, programs to support early intervention for psychosis, and funding to address the opioid epidemic. This act also includes additional provisions not related to mental health, such as NIH funding to support precision medicine, FDA funding to expedite the availability of new treatments, and increased loan repayments for research scientists.
Read more in our blog.